Boehner and Healthcare Reform

I think the January 12 scheduling is telling. It significantly ahead of the State of the Union address (Jan. 25 or so, I believe). That means that it’ll be old news by the time Obama gets to reset the message. What’s likely going on is that Boehner, knowing that repeal won’t go anywhere, that it is a symbolic vote, wants to send a signal to the GOP base without really getting in the way of more important business. In a sense, the schedule suggests to me that Boehner knows that the repeal vote is not itself very serious. If he wanted to make a bigger show of it, why not schedule it for a day or two before the State of the Union? Why not do it the day of the speech itself? That would be very confrontational.

This seems pretty obviously true to me. Boehner knows two things: (a) he has to schedule a repeal vote because the tea partiers will go into open revolt if he doesn't, and (b) it's a dead letter with nothing more than symbolic value. So he's scheduling a quick vote with no hearings and no CBO scoring just so he can say he's done it, after which he can move on to other business he actually cares about.

The only thing that puzzles me is why he's being so obvious about it. Is this a genuine signal to Obama that he's kinda sorta willing to work with him on future legislation? Is it a signal that Boehner is tired of the tea partiers already? Or what? It really does seem like he's giving tea partiers the back of his hand a little too obviously here.